Thermostatic valve



sept 5, 1950 G. sPERLlNG 2,521,612

THERMOSTATIC VALVE Filed Aug. 12, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fiel INVENTQR.

Fia?. Fica Gusggv 595mm Sept 5,Y 1950 G. sPERLlNG v2,521,612

'IHERMOSTATIC VALVE Filed Aug. 12, 1947 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiG. 5

' INVENTOR Gustav SPERLme BY l TTOINEYS Patented Sept. 5, 1950 UNITEDSTATES PATENT l OFFICE THERMOSTATIC VALVE Gustav Sperling, Los Angeles,Calif.

Applcton Allgllst 12, 1947, Serial N0. 768,237

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to thermostatically operated means for thecontrol of the flow of a fluid through a conduit. It is applicableprimarily to refrigerators and will be described hereinafter, by way ofexample, in connection therewith. However, it should be understood thatt'he invention is capable of a much wider application and can generallybe made use of in every case where the ilow of a fluid is to becontrolled in dependence upon the temperature prevailing at a givenplace. For example the invention may be used in connection with dryingapparatus wherein steam or hot air or other gas is used as a heatingmedium; room heating systems operated with steam, hot air, hot water oroil; burners where the flow of fuel and/or air (or oxygen) isautomatically to be regulated in accordance with the temperature of theflame, and other similar purposes. It is to be understood that theinvention extends to all these and other possible applications.

For the thermostatical control of the flow of a uid, and particularly inthe case of refrigerators in which it is the now of the refrigerantthrough the evaporator that is so controlled, use has so far been madeof electromagnetic (solenoid) valves which are operated by thethermostat and function so as to close part or whole o1' the evaporatortubes. This arrangement has among other things, the following drawbacks:

(a) It is impracticable where the refrigerating machine is driven not byan,electric motor but by an oil engine or in any other way;

(b) The solenoid valve has two positions only, namely entirely open andentirely closed. Where a gradual control of the ow of the refrigerant isdesired, this can only be achieved by the use of 4several valvesoperated by several thermostats (or multi-step thermostat) adjusted fornarrow temperature steps.

The object of this invention is to provide thermostatically operatedvalves for the control of the flow of fluids, which valves do notrequire the use of electric current for their operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a thermostaticallycontrolled valve operated by members set in reciprocating motion by theaction of the thermostat.

A yet further object of the invention consists in providing athermostatically controlled valve of the character described by means ofwhich the flow of the fluid is gradually regulated between a maximumlimit (full flow) and a minimum limit (minimum flow or no ilow at all)With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in thethermostatically operated flow control device of whichr some practicalembodiments are described hereinafter, by way of example only, withreference lto the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a partialsectional elevation of a first embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rotary disc valve thereof;

Fig. 3 is a plan view similar to Fig. 2, showing a modification of therotary disc valve;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are elevations of a second, third and fourth embodimentof the invention respectively;

Fig. 7 shows a fragmentary diagrammatic plan view of yet anotherembodiment of the invention.

Turning rst to Fig. 1, the embodiment of the invention here illustratedcomprises a usual ther-` mostatic bulb I filled with a substancein thegaseous and/or liquid state, e. g. methyl chloride, which expands andcontracts in accordance with the temperature prevailing at the placewhere the bulb is located. `As is` customary with refrigerators, thebulb is mounted within the refrigerated space at a point where a certaintemperatureis to be maintained, and its filling is so calculated that acertain pre-determined pressure existsat the temperature to bemaintained. 'Ihe bulb is connected by a capillarytube 2 to abellows-like pliable member 3 which is completely closed but for itsconnection with tube 2 and, accordingly, is contracted or distended asthe pressure of the thermostat filling drops or risesvwhereby its bottomis made to carry out reciprocating movements. The member 3 is mountedwithin a chamber 4 which forms part of the refrigerant conduit andcomprises an inlet connection 5 located in a side wall, and three outletconnections 6, l and 8 located in the bottom wall. The three outletconnections are 4arranged near one another and extend into the chamberwhere they form bosses 6', 1` and 8f the upper ends of which are allsituated in the same horizontal 'plane and serveas seats for a rotarydisc or slide valve 9. The latter (see also Fig. 2) has a centralaperture I I and three circular ports I2, I3 and Il, corresponding insize and relative position. to thethree outlets 6, 1 and 8 respectively.Through the aperture Il, a. vertical pin IU projects which is xed to thebottom of the chamber and has a highpitched thread cut into it. Thisreceives the internally threaded hub of a disc I5 (the term disc ismeant to compriseall equivalents, e. g.

I5. BythemdsI1,dIscs3andIlaresocoupled to each other that on theone handthey can rotate asa unit about the threaded pin I3 but neither canrotate singly, while on the other 4hand disc Il can be moved toward oraway from disc 3. When disc Il is pressed upon from above it is movedtoward disc 3 against the action of spring I3 and at the same timerotates about pin Ilowingtothethreadprovidedintheiatter, thereby takingdisc 3 along inrotation. When the pressure on disc Il is released, theaction of spring I3 pushes it upwards and turns bothdiacsIlandtbackintothestartingposition. Every turning movement ot disc 3makes a din'erenoe in the flow of the refrigerant through chamber l. Ifit be assumed that in the starting position illustrated in Pig. 1, inwhich the disc I3 is prevented from further rising by a suitableabutment which has not been illustrated, orbynuts I3,alltheportsofdiscsarefully out of register with the outlet connections and.accordingly, no flow at all of the refrigerant through chamber I cantake place, any angular displacement of disc 3 will bring the ports intoregister with the outlet connections, ilrst partly and then fully, andthereby enable a gradually increasing flow of the partly liquid partlygaseotu refrigerant through the chamber 3. Conversely, starting from thelowermostA position o f disc I, any angular displacement 1 thereof willgradually bring the ports of disc 3 out of resister with the outletconnections and thus shut oi! the ilow of refrigerant. Of course, thevalve 4 that port I2 is fully out of register with the correspondingoutlet connection, ports I3' and I4' remain in register with theirrespective outlet connections. Further turning brings port Il' out ofregister, while port I3' is still in register, and yet further turningfinally shuts oi! the last outlet connection as well. The opening of theoutlets proceeds in inverse sequence.

In the embodiment of the invention according to Fig. 4, the arrangementof the valve proper is similar to the one described in Figs. 1 and 2 themember 3 is replaced by a membrane 23 which is stretched across the topportion of the chamber I' and divides therefrom a sub-chamberV la thatcommunicates with the thermostat I through the pipe 2. The variations ofpressure in the thermostat produce the reciprocating movements of themembrane which are made to act through the annular abutment I3 of themembrane on the disc I5', corresponding to the disc I5 of the deviceillustrated in Fig. 1. It is obvious that the function oi' the device isthe same as that described hereinabove.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 5 has a member 3'similar to the member -3 of Fig. 1. Its reciprocating expanding and maybe so adjusted that even in the starting position the ports are notaltogether out of register with the outlet connections and a slight nowof refrigerant takes place.

To the bottom of the member 3 an annular abutment I3 is secured. whichabutment rests on disc I5. ordinated to one another that below and up tothe temperature at which the control device is intended to enter intooperation, any pressure exerted by the member 3 on the disc I5 is sosmall that it does not overcome the action of spring Il. determinedmagnitude the pressure developing in the thermostat I distends themember 3 and presses the bottom of the latter down on to disc I5whereby, as described above, the latter descends and is turned, and withit disc 3 turns.'

Thereby, a gradually increasing ilow oi the refrigerant through thechamber I is started. As the temperature drops within the refrigerator,so drops the pressure in the thermostat whereby the member 3 iscontracted and a movement of the valve disc in the opposite direction isinduced whereby the flow of the refrigerant is gradually shut off.

.It is thus evident that the device described hereinbefore provides avery smoothand gradual control of the refrigerator.

The variations of flow of the refrigerant can be made still more gradualby the modification of the valve disc 3' illustrated in Fig. 3. This hasone circular port I2' corresponding to the port I2 of disc 3, an oblongport Il' in lieu of port Il of disc 3 and about double the size thereof.and an oblong port I3' in lieu of the port I3 of disc 3 and about thricethe size thereof. When the disc l' is turned to such an extent The partsof the apparatus are so co- When the temperature exceeds aprecontracting movements are transmitted to a lever 2| which is pivotedat 22 on an upright 23 secured to the bottom of the chamber 4. Theopposite end of the lever presses on a cap member 2l secured to theupper face of the disc I5. The end of lever 2I beneath theA member 3' isurged upwards by a compression spring 23 propped up against the bottomof chamber 4 where a knob 23 is provided in order to prevent the springfrom sliding sidewards, while a similar knob 21 is provided on theunderside of lever 2| for the ilxation of the upper end of the spring.As the member 3' expands, the righthand end of lever 2| is pressed. downagainst the action of spring 25 whereby the opposite end of the lever israised, which allows the disc I5 to be pressed upwards by the action ofspring I3. The rotary movement of the valve disc required for openingthe passage of the refrigerant through the chamber 4 proceeds thus inthe opposite sense as in Fig. 1.

Again, Fig. 6 is self-explanatory in illustrating a device analogous toFig. 4, with the diilerence that the membrane 23' presses on a lever 2Isimilarly as does the member 3' in the case of Fig. 5.

A yet other embodiment of the invention, illustrated in Fig. 7, doesaway with the screwingly movable disc I5 of Fig. 1. 'I'he member 3a,corresponding to member 3 of Fig. 1, is arranged in horizontal positionand presses on one end of a lever 23 pivoted at 23 on a brace 33, acompression spring 3| being provided for counteracting the distendingmovement of the member 3a. The opposite end 32 of lever 23 is bifurcatedand embraces a stud 33 fixed on the valve disc 3a. The expansions andcontractions of the member 3a. bring about oscillating movements of thelever 23 whereby the valve disc 3a is alternatingly turned in eitherdirection.

In use, the embodiments of the invention heretofore described have adistinct advantage in the operation of refrigeration plants. Acoldstorage room may be provided with a number of evaporation units,each of said units being connected to the fluid-control device of theinvention, the said fluid-control device being connected at the otherend to a single cooling unit. Each of the outlets 3, 1, and 3 thus leadto a 5 separate evaporating unit, while the inlet connection 5 isattached to the cooling unit. When a pre-determined room temperature isobtained, the fluid-control device is set in motion. If the rotary diskvalve shown in Fig. 2 is utilized, all of the outlets are graduallyclosed simultaneously. If the rotary disk valve illustrated in Fig. 3 isemployed, however, each of the outlets is successively closed at agradual rate, thus placing one evaporator at a time out of action.Should the room temperature decrease to a point where al1 of the liquidlines leading to the evaporators are closed, the cooling-unit pumplowers the pressure in the system and an automatic pressure controlwhich is installed in every cooling system, shuts of! the motor and thusdisconnects the entire cooling unit. 'I'he process is reversed -when thetemperature rises and opens the uid control outlets correspondingly.Those skilled in the art will appreciate the economy of operation of thecooling unit and the smoother operation aii'orded to the cooling system.

I claim:

1. A device for the control of the ilow of fluid through a conduit,comprising a casing with at least one iluid inlet connection and atleast one iiuid outlet connection; an oscillatingly rotatable slide discvalve inside the casing in conjunction with at least one of saidconnections, said disc valve having a central aperture and at least onefluid passage port; a ilxed spindle loosely projecting through saidcentral aperture; a second disc having a threaded hub screwed on saidspindle, a compression spring interposed between said two discs, meansconnecting the two discs for rotation of said discs in unison about saidspindle with the angular relation of said discs remaining constant;means for enabling the distance between said discs to be varied: athermostat outside the casing; a member inside the casing adapted tocarry outreciprocating movements by the action of said thermostat, and

- means for transmitting the reciprocating movements of said member tosaid disc for screwing the latter along said spindle.

2. Adeviceasclaimedinclaimlwhereinthe valve disc has several portscoordinated to a corresponding number of branches of the iluid conduit,said ports having equal dimensions and such relative position as to comesimultaneously into register with the branches of the iluid conduit, andsimultaneously out of register therewith.

3. Adeviceasclaimedinclaim 1 whereinthe valve disc has several portscoordinated to a 55 Nlnbel corresponding number of branches of the duid6 conduit. said ports having unequal dimensions and such relativeposition as to come one after the other into or out of register with thebranches of the fluid conduit.

4. A device for the control ci iluid through a conduit, comprising acasing with at least one fluid inlet connection and at least one iluidoutlet connection; an oscillatingly rotatable slide disc valve insidethe casing in conjunction with at least one of said connections, saiddisc valve having a central aperture and at least one iluid e port; ailxed spindle loosely projecting through said central aperture; a seconddisc having a threaded hub screwed on said spindle, a compression springinterposed between said two discs. a plurality of rods joining the twodiscs in such a manner as to prevent relative angular displacementbetween them and to allow said discs to rotate in unison, said seconddisc being slidably mounted on said rods and being movable toward andaway from said rst disc, a thermostat outside said casing, a memberinside said casing adapted to carry out reciprocating movements by theaction oi' said thermostat, and means for transmitting the reciprocatingmovements of said member to said second disc for screwing the latteralong said spindle.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said reciprocal member is indirect contact with said second disc.

6. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein a pivotally mounted lever isinterposed betweenl said reciprocal member and second disc and its endsare in contact with said 4member and disc respectively.

GUSTAV BPERLING.

40 ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 771,287 McLewee Oct. 4, 1904995,854 Ferbranche June 20, 1911 1,346,734 Young July 13, 1920 1,833,950Modine Dec. l, 1931 1,926,790 Ploen Sept. 12, 1933 2,141,614 Mott Dec.27, 1938 2,185,914 Gaul Jan. 2, 1940 2,377,227 Griswold May 29, 19452,395,212 Blanchard Feb. 19, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date 1,724Great Britain 1910

